The Permissions We Ask For (And Why)

When you install Air, macOS will present you with several permission dialogs asking for access to various system capabilities. These dialogs are intentionally designed to look alarming because they represent significant access to your system. We believe you deserve a clear explanation of exactly what each permission enables and why we need it.

Understanding macOS Permission System

Apple designed the macOS permission system to give users visibility and control over what apps can access. Every time an app wants to use certain sensitive capabilities, it must explicitly request permission and explain why. If you deny a permission, the app cannot access that capability.

This system is excellent for privacy, but the dialogs can be confusing. Terms like "Accessibility" and "Automation" do not clearly communicate what they actually allow. We want to demystify these permissions so you can make an informed decision about whether to grant them.

Accessibility Permission

The Accessibility permission dialog says that Air wants to control your computer using accessibility features. This sounds more invasive than it actually is. Here is what we actually use this permission for.

Primarily, we need Accessibility permission to capture global keyboard shortcuts. When you hold the Right Option key to activate voice input, Air needs to detect that keypress regardless of which application is currently focused. Without Accessibility permission, keyboard events only go to the frontmost application. With this permission, we can register a system wide hotkey that works in any context.

This permission also allows us to determine which application is currently active. When you ask Air to help with something, knowing what app you are looking at helps us provide more relevant assistance. If you are in Safari, we know you might be asking about a webpage. If you are in Finder, we know you might be asking about file operations.

We do not use Accessibility permission to read your screen content, record your keystrokes, or control your mouse movements. While the permission technically allows these capabilities, we only use the specific subset needed for hotkey registration and application awareness.

Microphone Permission

The Microphone permission is straightforward. Air is a voice assistant, so we need access to your microphone to hear your voice commands and transcribe them to text.

What makes our microphone usage different from always listening voice assistants is that we only activate the microphone when you explicitly hold the Right Option key. There is no background listening, no wake word detection, no passive audio monitoring. The microphone turns on when you press the key and turns off when you release it.

You can verify this behavior yourself by watching the macOS menu bar. When any app is using the microphone, macOS displays an orange dot in the menu bar. You will only see this dot during the brief moments when you are actively holding the voice key.

Automation Permission for Messages

When Air requests permission to control Messages, it is asking for the ability to read and send messages through the Messages app on your behalf. This is what enables you to say "text Sarah that I am running late" and have Air actually send that message.

Without this permission, Air could help you compose a message but could not send it. You would have to manually copy the text, open Messages, find the conversation, paste, and send. The whole point of Air is eliminating these manual steps.

We request permission for each app separately, so you have granular control. If you want Air to work with Calendar but not Messages, you can grant one permission and deny the other.

When we access Messages, we only look at the information needed to fulfill your request. If you ask to send a message to Sarah, we look up Sarah in your recent conversations to find the right thread. We do not read through your message history, analyze your conversations, or extract any data beyond what is immediately needed.

Automation Permission for Calendar

The Calendar permission allows Air to read your existing events and create new ones. This powers features like "what is on my calendar tomorrow" and "schedule a meeting with the team at 3pm on Friday."

Calendar access means we can see your event titles, times, locations, and attendees. This information stays on your device and is only used to answer your specific questions or create events you request. We do not analyze your schedule patterns, build profiles of who you meet with, or extract any data for other purposes.

When creating events, Air shows you exactly what will be created before adding it to your calendar. You always have the opportunity to review and approve before any change is made.

Automation Permission for Notes

The Notes permission lets Air read and create notes in the Apple Notes app. You can say things like "create a note about the meeting decisions" or "add to my project ideas note."

Similar to other automation permissions, we only access the specific notes needed to fulfill your request. We do not scan through all your notes or index their content. When you ask to create a new note, Air shows you the content before saving it.

Automation Permission for Finder

Finder automation allows Air to perform file operations like moving, renaming, copying, and organizing files. This is what powers requests like "move these downloads to my documents folder" or "rename all these screenshots with today's date."

File operations are potentially more consequential than messaging or calendar changes, so we take extra care here. Every file operation is shown to you for confirmation before execution. We also maintain an undo manifest that lets you reverse file moves and renames if something goes wrong.

We use specific file APIs rather than requesting full disk access. This means we can only access files in locations that Finder can normally access. We cannot read protected system files, application bundles, or other restricted areas.

Screen Recording Permission

The Screen Recording permission is optional and only used for our Airshots feature. When you double tap the voice key, Air captures a screenshot of your current window and includes it with your voice query. This gives the AI visual context about what you are looking at.

This permission is not required for basic voice commands. You can use Air for text input, messaging, calendar, notes, and file operations without ever granting screen recording access. The permission is only requested when you first try to use the Airshots feature.

When you do use Airshots, we show you the captured screenshot before sending it anywhere. You can cancel if the capture includes anything you do not want to share. The screenshot is processed for your immediate query and then deleted, following the same privacy principles as voice data.

What We Do Not Ask For

We have been deliberate about minimizing the permissions we request. There are several common permissions that Air does not need.

Location permission is never needed. Air is about controlling your Mac, not tracking where you are. We do not request location access.

Contacts permission is only requested if you specifically ask Air to send a message to someone. Even then, we only look up the specific contact you mentioned. We do not import or sync your contacts.

Camera permission is not needed. Air is voice first and does not use video input for any features.

Full disk access is not needed. We use specific file APIs that work within the normal Finder permission model rather than requesting blanket access to your entire filesystem.

Making Informed Decisions About Permissions

We believe you should grant permissions based on how you actually plan to use Air. If you only want voice dictation and do not care about app integrations, you only need Microphone and Accessibility permissions. If you want the full experience of controlling Messages, Calendar, Notes, and Finder, you will need those automation permissions too.

You can always change your permission decisions later in System Preferences under Privacy and Security. Revoking a permission will disable the corresponding feature in Air but will not affect other functionality.

Our commitment is to only use permissions for their stated purposes and to be transparent about exactly what each permission enables. We designed Air so that you never have to trust us more than necessary.